[Rohan's brow furrows a little when he feels the bump-brush against his leg and he looks down at Arnold with an exasperated huff, but that's both the beginning and the end of it as far as Arnold is concerned. Rohan doesn't do anything from discouraging Arnold from walking beside him.]
[He wants to say that Heaven's Door isn't the elephant in the room. Not really. She knows the pertinent information already, such as the current extent of Rohan's abilities, and how he was used once on her and the reasons why. Anything beyond that isn't particularly relevant and won't inform her any better than what she already knows, not really. No, what she's really questioning — what Rohan thinks she's really questioning, anyway — is him. But he won't say that out loud. As quick as Rohan is to make accusations to throw someone onto the defensive and give himself the upper hand, that's not particularly something he wants her to have to defend to him. Not with that interesting choice of analogy.]
[Rohan barely looks at Reimi out of the corner of his eye. At least that proves his theory. She's afraid. Even if she won't say those words and be honest in a direct and undeniable manner, she's afraid. And he knows why. It's obvious once she's finished talking what the problem is. Reimi only sees half the picture. She sees the damage and the harm that he could easily bring down upon anyone or anything if he willed it, and she's afraid that he won't see that line anymore. Or maybe that he doesn't at all in the first place. She sees what Heaven's Door can do and she understand the connection between Heaven's Door and Rohan, but she doesn't see Rohan. And that . . .]
[He wants to pull away from her right here and now. Stop walking, turn back around and go back home instead of trying to explain something he holds the expectation that she should see, know, and understand implicitly. But it's a wrong expectation to hold apparently and that's what hurts, that he's wrong about something as important as this and — no, that she's wrong and he's placed his trust in the wrong person. And so all he wants to do is punish her by withholding everything still and let her be afraid in her ignorance because why should she have a right to know and understand if she can't see? Rohan is loath to hold anyone's hand, but he's especially so when it comes to matters like this, like . . . like having the one person in the world who believes in and almost always sees the good in him lose that faith that it's there strong enough to cast aside any temptations to the contrary, to question and carry doubt over his ability to choose in a way that isn't destructive.]
[So, he just wants to punish her by more than just his usual proclivity to pick and tear at loose seams and by denying her any chance to know him. And he almost gives in because there's a subtle dip in his gait where it seems like he might stop walking and really turn away, but he doesn't because in some ways, he's too angry to allow something like that to lie, to let her just pass judgment like that over him on her own biases and misconceptions.]
You're afraid because you think too narrowly, Reimi. You think I use my Stand like some kind of petulant child looking to spite anyone who irritates me even mildly because it's simply within my power to make them walk straight into the ocean and stay there even when they can't hold their breath any longer, or start tearing out pages until they only have a vague sense of who they are and no way of figuring anything else further than that until I decide I'm done toying with them.
But have you even taken the time to consider anything from my perspective? [He looks at her now and he doesn't look happy. Granted, he didn't look particularly pleased to be dragged out of his home before, but he looks and sounds legitimately angry now.] You look at what I did to you and you see it only from your eyes, like I took something away from you. Maybe because I wanted to, or maybe just because I could.
But I only used my abilities in the first place because until I did, I didn't know your intentions. And whether you see it or not, Reimi, I had to be the one to act. Koichi is a far less experienced Stand user than I am, not to mention younger than me. And if he had used his Stand in front of you and you were an enemy Stand user, that would have completely shown Koichi's hand prematurely to you. I told you once before that Heaven's Door requires intellect to use effectively and that's precisely what I meant.
I have to be quick in reaching a decision and judging whether it's the right time to use my ability because being a Stand user means that hesitation at the wrong moment with the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death not just for the user, but the people around them.
[He looks ahead of them again, tightening his jaw for a moment.]
But for the record, I didn't make you forget just to cover up my abilities to you or because it was within my ability to do so. I made you forget seeing Heaven's Door's image and activating my ability because when I saw you were just a regular girl, I didn't want you to be afraid or getting involved by asking questions.
That's what I use Heaven's Door for. It's not for my personal gain or my amusement. [And the period in which that wasn't the case was so incredibly short-lived because to some extent, that's part of growing as a Stand user as well. You want to see the extent of your abilities, how far you can push yourself and grow. For someone like Rohan, ambition can be blinding. But he grew past that. Forcibly with the combination of a beatdown from Josuke that landed him in the hospital and Kira's growing shadow over Morioh, but he still grew out of it.] I use Heaven's Door to stay alive and to keep people who have no business getting involved out of it.
no subject
[He wants to say that Heaven's Door isn't the elephant in the room. Not really. She knows the pertinent information already, such as the current extent of Rohan's abilities, and how he was used once on her and the reasons why. Anything beyond that isn't particularly relevant and won't inform her any better than what she already knows, not really. No, what she's really questioning — what Rohan thinks she's really questioning, anyway — is him. But he won't say that out loud. As quick as Rohan is to make accusations to throw someone onto the defensive and give himself the upper hand, that's not particularly something he wants her to have to defend to him. Not with that interesting choice of analogy.]
[Rohan barely looks at Reimi out of the corner of his eye. At least that proves his theory. She's afraid. Even if she won't say those words and be honest in a direct and undeniable manner, she's afraid. And he knows why. It's obvious once she's finished talking what the problem is. Reimi only sees half the picture. She sees the damage and the harm that he could easily bring down upon anyone or anything if he willed it, and she's afraid that he won't see that line anymore. Or maybe that he doesn't at all in the first place. She sees what Heaven's Door can do and she understand the connection between Heaven's Door and Rohan, but she doesn't see Rohan. And that . . .]
[He wants to pull away from her right here and now. Stop walking, turn back around and go back home instead of trying to explain something he holds the expectation that she should see, know, and understand implicitly. But it's a wrong expectation to hold apparently and that's what hurts, that he's wrong about something as important as this and — no, that she's wrong and he's placed his trust in the wrong person. And so all he wants to do is punish her by withholding everything still and let her be afraid in her ignorance because why should she have a right to know and understand if she can't see? Rohan is loath to hold anyone's hand, but he's especially so when it comes to matters like this, like . . . like having the one person in the world who believes in and almost always sees the good in him lose that faith that it's there strong enough to cast aside any temptations to the contrary, to question and carry doubt over his ability to choose in a way that isn't destructive.]
[So, he just wants to punish her by more than just his usual proclivity to pick and tear at loose seams and by denying her any chance to know him. And he almost gives in because there's a subtle dip in his gait where it seems like he might stop walking and really turn away, but he doesn't because in some ways, he's too angry to allow something like that to lie, to let her just pass judgment like that over him on her own biases and misconceptions.]
You're afraid because you think too narrowly, Reimi. You think I use my Stand like some kind of petulant child looking to spite anyone who irritates me even mildly because it's simply within my power to make them walk straight into the ocean and stay there even when they can't hold their breath any longer, or start tearing out pages until they only have a vague sense of who they are and no way of figuring anything else further than that until I decide I'm done toying with them.
But have you even taken the time to consider anything from my perspective? [He looks at her now and he doesn't look happy. Granted, he didn't look particularly pleased to be dragged out of his home before, but he looks and sounds legitimately angry now.] You look at what I did to you and you see it only from your eyes, like I took something away from you. Maybe because I wanted to, or maybe just because I could.
But I only used my abilities in the first place because until I did, I didn't know your intentions. And whether you see it or not, Reimi, I had to be the one to act. Koichi is a far less experienced Stand user than I am, not to mention younger than me. And if he had used his Stand in front of you and you were an enemy Stand user, that would have completely shown Koichi's hand prematurely to you. I told you once before that Heaven's Door requires intellect to use effectively and that's precisely what I meant.
I have to be quick in reaching a decision and judging whether it's the right time to use my ability because being a Stand user means that hesitation at the wrong moment with the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death not just for the user, but the people around them.
[He looks ahead of them again, tightening his jaw for a moment.]
But for the record, I didn't make you forget just to cover up my abilities to you or because it was within my ability to do so. I made you forget seeing Heaven's Door's image and activating my ability because when I saw you were just a regular girl, I didn't want you to be afraid or getting involved by asking questions.
That's what I use Heaven's Door for. It's not for my personal gain or my amusement. [And the period in which that wasn't the case was so incredibly short-lived because to some extent, that's part of growing as a Stand user as well. You want to see the extent of your abilities, how far you can push yourself and grow. For someone like Rohan, ambition can be blinding. But he grew past that. Forcibly with the combination of a beatdown from Josuke that landed him in the hospital and Kira's growing shadow over Morioh, but he still grew out of it.] I use Heaven's Door to stay alive and to keep people who have no business getting involved out of it.